hadiya pendleton's parents will be among the president's special guests at the state of the union address. nbc's tracie potts is live from washington with more. tracie, what else can we expect to hear from the president tonight? >> reporter: well, that, mara, plus immigration and the president hopes to have influence outside the lawmaker to press the lawmakers to get something done. month question, the big issue is money, $85 billion in cuts what we've been calling here in washington, the sequester that kicks in in just a few weeks. the president expected to address that. the white house said he will build on the scene from his inaugural speech. progressive themes, popular themes and focus on jobs and the middle class and the economy and growth. so instead of focusing on the effect of those cuts on the pentagon, the president will talk about the effect on the middle class. things like research and headstart and push for congress to quickly make some changes to fix the debt coalition here in washington say it's not just the president and it's not just congress. they've got to work together